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England RFU Club Rugby Sponsored by Corporate Bullies? - RFU Chief Notified

The Shalom Family Campaign for Social Justice | 02.10.2007 11:56 | Education | Health | Social Struggles | London

England RFU members, Warlingham RFC and Weybridge Vandals RFC are both sponsored by Crest Nicholson. Under the relatively new ownership of Castle Bidco, (backed by Bank of Scotland and Sir Tom Hunter's investment vehicle, West Coast Capital,) one Welsh Family believes the RFU and its ‘Family Friendly’ clubs should be aware of the companies’ bullying past.

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The Shalom Family of 7 have written to Weybridge Vandals RFC and Warlingham RFC, copying-in Francis Baron, Chief Executive of the Rugby Football Union, to help keep all parties informed.


The letter is reproduced below:


28th September 2007

To Presidents, Chairmen, Committee Members, Players and Patrons:

Warlingham RFC
Limpsfield Road
Hamsey Green
Warlingham
Surrey
CR6 9RB

Weybridge Vandals RFC
Brownacres, The Towing Path
Walton on Thames
Surrey
KT12 1QP



Sent Via Post and e-mail to  club.admin@mightywarl.com

Sent via Post to Weybridge Vandals


Dear Ladies, Gentlemen, Girls and Boys,

Warlingham RFC & Weybridge Vandals RFC

Crest Nicholson – Your Corporate Sponsors

Your Right to Know About Crest Nicholson



Further to our recent telephone calls, we thank you for your respective confirmations that Warlingham RFC and Weybridge Vandals RFC are presently in receipt of Corporate Sponsorship from Crest Nicholson, who are home-based in Chertsey, Surrey, England.


For the benefit of doubt, it is clear to us and our five daughters, from your respective, internet-published club literatures, that both clubs are currently providing, and are committed to provide, Family-friendly, Family- Community- orientated clubs.


We kindly note your clubs’ respective commitments, in various degrees of development, to the England Rugby Football Union and ‘Community Rugby’ and ‘Sport England’ schemes.



We are aware that overall, through these and other schemes, the Rugby Football Union endorses and promotes a generally accepted sound approach and ethos towards how affiliated rugby clubs should be formed, structured, and/or maintained and how club members should behave at every level; to the ideals of respect, worth, dignity, fair play, duty of care, anti bullying, health & safety, and the like. This is only to be applauded.



Our attention is also particularly drawn to the fact that, “The Community Rugby Active Sports Seal of Approval and the Sport England Clubmark accreditation scheme are based upon a three-year award system in which a club will be assessed on its ability to provide a safe, effective, child-friendly club environment.”



We accept that within Community Rugby (and Sport England schemes) and in order for your clubs to proceed with official Rugby Football Union (RFU) accreditation, you must comply with, and be part of their due processes, to achieve same.



We believe that there is little value in the promotion of such high ideals or such RFU accreditation schemes, whilst at the same time, at grass-roots community level, it would appear, that your present Corporate sponsors have not always maintained like-minded principles in the way that they have conducted their business affairs. In reality - Corporate Social Responsibility is surely a must?



In promulgating the origins of the rugby game, the RFU website proclaims, “Mob’ football’ as it is known, came to England in the 11th century”, and was very different from any of the codes played today.”.. Thankfully, the game has come a long way since then. It is to the credit of the RFU and the commitments made at club level throughout the country, that rugby is not seen as a ‘mob’ game at all. It is, thankfully, unrecognisable to its forerunner!



We believe that there are decent women, men and children, (girls and boys) in all rugby clubs up and down the length of England and all over the United Kingdom. We do not accept mob-like behavior. We also believe that decent sponsors will not shy from transparency in their operations, past or present.



In view of the above, we believe your clubs have a right to know, and would want to know just a little bit more about your corporate sponsors, Crest Nicholson. We kindly invite you to learn of the appalling disregard this company has displayed for our Family, our Home of 14 years and our way of life. We would like you to understand the consequences of their immoral actions as they affect us today. Please visit our Family Campaign for Social Justice web site at  http://www.mvpicton.co.uk for more details.



Should you have any questions, queries or comments please free to get in touch by any means. Finally, may we kindly invite Weybridge Vandals RFC and Warlingham RFC to support us in our Family Campaign for Social Justice. It would be a delight to welcome you aboard!




Kind regards,

Yours sincerely,



Marie Louise & Vincent Shalom


With our children:- Hannah, Naomi, Rachel, Rebekah and Jessica.
Formerly of the Houseboat M V Picton, Penarth Marina, Cardiff Bay, Wales.

c.c.
Francis Baron
Chief executive
Rugby Football Union
Rugby Road
Twickenham
TW1 1DZ
Faxed to 020 8892 6993

P.S.

In regard to your joint fixture scheduled for tomorrow at Warlingham, and despite the clear fact that it can only be your corporate sponsors who will ‘win’ either way, we wish you both a very good game.



Letter Ends.

Footnotes:-

Family appeals for Social Justice – polite requests for further consideration and real help - compensation based on merit - have already been made to Crest Nicholson’s Directors, Stephen Stone, Peter Darby, and Paul Callcutt, and furthermore to Sir Tom Hunter’s Castle Bidco via Andy Hornby Executive Director HBOS Bank plc.

…………………………

Crest Nicholson evicted the Family of 7 from M V Picton, their own houseboat Home of 14 years, on 28th October 2003. It was situated in the Vale of Glamorgan at Penarth Marina in Cardiff Bay Wales – “Europe’s Most Exciting Waterfront Development”. The company were negligent having previously caused a night time grounding accident to their home but instead of ‘doing right’ by the Family and really helping in the situation, they chose an immoral, deliberate and willful cause of action, to evict them, and furthermore caused their Home to be destroyed. Three and a half years on, all Family possessions which were seized, still remain seized.

The Penarth Marina, now operated by Quay Marinas Limited and run by former Crest Nicholson Marina’s Operations Director Simon Haigh, (this man called the Shalom’s home a caravan – after his company caused the grounding ‘accident’) lays in the view of, Crest Nicholson’s proposed Penarth Heights £100M residential redevelopment of the ‘Billy Banks’. The Penarth Times recently made headline news that this Crest Nicholson development also raises health and safety issues for 999 emergency services.

The RFU Mission Statement available from the RFU Official Website reads:

RFU Mission Statement.

“To promote and govern rugby union in England through maintaining stable structures for the game that enable its successful development at all levels for the benefit of its participants”.


“To be world leaders through excellence in every aspect of the elite game”.

“To promote and develop the game within the community so as to encourage optimum participation and enjoyment at every level”.

“To be commercially and financially the strongest Union in the world to provide the investment resource necessary to achieve our aspirations for the game”.


RFU Official Website at  http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.Home
Warlingham RFC Website includes links to ethical policies etc at  http://www.warlingham-rfc.com/

Weybridge Vandals (no not Crest Nicholson!) RFC website includes links to ethical policies etc at  http://www.weybridgevandals.co.uk/portal/index.php
Crest Nicholson Website  http://www.crestnicholson.com/default.aspx

Sir Tom Hunter’s West Coast Capital  http://www.westcoastcapital.co.uk/

HBOS Plc Andy Hornby Executive director  http://www.hbosplc.com/abouthbos/directors_biogs.asp

Penarth Times 999 Fears Over Billy Banks Plan at  http://www.penarthtimes.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1718706.mostviewed.999_fears_over_billybanks_plan.php


END.



The Shalom Family Campaign for Social Justice
- e-mail: wwwnoahsark@aol.com
- Homepage: http://www.mvpicton.co.uk


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